The Ötztal Alps, more than 5,300 years ago. A Neolithic clan has settled near a creek where their leader, Kelab, is the keeper of the holy shrine, Tineka. One day, while Kelab has gone hunting, the settlement is attacked and the members of the tribe brutally murdered, including Kelab’s wife and son. The holy shrine is stolen and the only survivor is a newborn baby. Blinded by the pain, Kelab sets out on a journey to seek revenge, and has no other choice than to bring the infant with him.

The fate of the glacier mummy Ötzi, discovered in 1991, has inspired and moved people from Alpine regions and far beyond. Director Felix Randau created a story simultaneously modern in its philosophical approach and faithful in its urge to recreate a lost past – in production design, artwork, make up or language: The characters in the film speak an early version of the Rhaetic language. No translation is required to comprehend the story, the viewer is invited to interpret based on gesture and the tone of voices.

This is cinema through body language, and Jürgen Vogel is obviously a perfect choice as the running, fighting, crying, dying iceman – used to pain and hardship as the basis of life. But he is not a quasi-biblical Job character ready to accept everything his god throws at him. André M. Hennicke serves as an evil counterpart, Franco Nero a guest-star with grace.